Little Brother Vignettes
by tallshadow72
Summary: A collection of one-shots set during or after the series in my Little Brother universe.
1. Author's Note

**Hello everyone! This will be a collection of one-shots, unrelated apart from being set in the Little Brother universe. There will be no regular update schedule; I will update if and when inspiration strikes. Chapters will not be in chronological order. Any fic set prior to the series will be published in Childhood Adventures. Requests will be considered, but I make no guarantee that I will follow through.**

 **A few rules, in case anyone** ** _does_** **have any requests:**

 **1\. I do not do whump for whump's sake.**

 **2\. I will keep things PG-13.**

 **3\. As a general rule, I don't do shipping fics. If I get an idea I** ** _really_** **like, I may do it, but the chances of that are very low.**


	2. Ground Rules

**A/N: This is set a few days after The Coming of Arthur.**

 **I don't own Merlin**

* * *

The new knights had just finished their first training session with Arthur and Leon. Now they all stood around chatting in the armory while Merlin began polishing Arthur's armor. Annoyingly, his sleeve kept catching on a broken link in Arthur's chain mail. After a few minutes, he pushed the sleeve about a third of the way up his arm, exposing a row of unnaturally straight scars.

He had largely tuned out the surrounding conversation when someone suddenly grabbed his arm. He jumped violently and saw Percival looking at him with a mixture of horror and concern. "Merlin, what the _hell_ have you been doing to yourself?"

Merlin shook his head and tried desperately to pull away, but Percival was _very_ strong.

"I can't just let this happen," Percival growled. He dragged Merlin over to the prince. "Arthur!"

Arthur whirled around, and his eyes widened when he saw Merlin struggling in Percival's grip. "Sir Percival, unhand Merlin at once," Arthur ordered, a warning in his voice.

"No— _look at his arm!_ " Percival insisted, dragging Merlin's sleeve up to his elbow and revealing more scars.

"I am well aware of the situation, Percival, and that is exactly why you must _let go of Merlin now,_ " Arthur said stiffly.

Percival reluctantly released Merlin, who hurriedly pulled down his sleeve and stepped away. Arthur took pity on his servant. "Merlin, go see Gaius."

Merlin nodded and all but ran out of the room.

Arthur turned to the room at large and raised his voice. "Attention, all of you. It seems that I need to establish a few rules for interacting with Merlin. First of all, and most importantly, do _not_ touch him without his permission unless it is a matter of life and death. Mordred is an exception to this rule; do not use him as a role model for dealing with Merlin. Second of all, treat him…" Arthur sighed and briefly shut his eyes. "Please do not repeat this to anyone else, because I mean absolutely no offense to Merlin when I say this, but treat him as you would a frightened animal—stay calm and be gentle. It was a knight who strangled him so badly he lost his voice, and as a result he tends to be uncomfortable around knights. Act as non-threatening as possible. Are we all clear?"

"Yes, Sire," the five knights chorused.

Percival still looked worried. "But…his scars…"

Arthur shook his head. "It's not what you seem to think it is, and rest assured that Merlin won't be collecting any more. And try not to mention the matter to him; it's a very sensitive subject."

Percival swallowed and nodded. "Understood."


	3. Forgiveness

**A/N: This is set sometime after the series.**

* * *

Merlin found himself standing in the empty throne room. Sunlight poured through the windows, and a waterskin lay on the floor next to a partially torn-up blanket. He swallowed as he recognized the scene.

"Merlin."

Merlin whirled around to see Morgana standing behind him. She was neatly groomed, and she wore the same green dress she had worn on the day Merlin poisoned her. "I'm sorry," she continued quietly.

Merlin bowed his head. [I…]

"You don't have to do that, Merlin," Morgana interrupted. "You're dreaming."

Merlin took a deep breath and tried speaking out loud. "I did you a great wrong, Morgana. You had every right to hate me."

Morgana shook her head. "But that didn't give me the right to become a monster."

"I wouldn't say—"

"I _was_ a monster, Merlin." Morgana dropped her gaze to the floor. "I killed more people than I can count. I betrayed my friends. I caused _so_ much pain and grief to all of you…and you still found it in your hearts to mourn me."

Merlin swallowed again, guilt welling up inside him. "I betrayed you first."

"But not out of malice. You held me in your arms as the poison took over. You wouldn't have done that if you didn't care about me. Perhaps, if Morgause hadn't been so determined to turn me against all my friends, I might have recognized that. But that's still no excuse for what I became. No one but me is to blame for everything I've done."

"Maybe not, but that still doesn't justify what I did."

"You meant well, even if your methods were extreme. At first, so did I…but I lost sight of the greater good, and in the end I only sought power for myself. My sins were far greater than yours." Morgana swallowed hard, tears glistening in her eyes. She began to fade, but her parting words echoed clearly in Merlin's mind. "I'm sorry, and I forgive you."

* * *

 **A/N: I realize that this fic had very little to distinguish it from the canon universe, but it was intended for this universe and the first draft was much more explicitly set in Little Brother, so I'm leaving it here.**

 **And for the record, this really was Morgana's spirit paying Merlin a visit, not just a figment of his subconscious.**


	4. Patrol Gone Mad

**A/N: This is set after the series.**

* * *

Gwaine, Leon, Percival and Elyan were riding out on patrol together. As they entered the woods, conversation turned to Selene. "You know, I think it's been more than a week since I've been attacked by a hissing ball of silver fur," Gwaine commented. "I'm not sure whether to be relieved or worried."

"Well, I'm relieved," Elyan said, shuddering. "Bad enough that cats make me sneeze, why does that one have to scratch me all the time?"

"Maybe she picked up on Merlin's general discomfort with knights?" Leon suggested.

Percival shook his head. "I once saw her attack a stable boy too. In fact, I think the only people I _haven't_ seen her attack are Merlin and Mordred."

Gwaine snorted. "If she ever attacked Mordred, I bet Merlin would have trained that right out of her."

"So why doesn't he train her not to attack _us_?" Elyan complained.

Leon shrugged. "Merlin is many things, but I'm fairly certain a cat trainer is not one of them."

"Yet," Percival added. "Give it time. I wouldn't be surprised if some day he trains her to talk for him."

A noise came through the trees, and the knights fell silent. It sounded like animals fighting. The knights shared a look and collectively decided to dismiss the noise as unimportant, but then they heard a girl scream. Without a word, they all turned and rode toward the sound.

Soon, they emerged into a clearing and found a sight that was bizarre even by Camelot's standards: a small white dragon and a griffin were battling in the air in front of a tree. Kara sat on a low branch of the tree, watching the fight through wide eyes. Selene was crouched on the branch next to Kara.

"Stay back!" Kara called, sounding frightened.

"Mistress Kara, it is our duty to rescue all damsels in distress," Gwaine called back, dismounting and drawing his sword. His comrades followed suit.

"Are any of you sorcerers?" Kara challenged. "Because you need magic to kill a griffin!"

"What about the dragon?" Leon demanded, shooting a worried glance at it.

"I'm trying to _help_!" the dragon snapped, startling the knights. She breathed a very small burst of flames at the griffin. The griffin briefly recoiled, then screeched angrily and continued the attack.

"Is that all you've got?" Kara complained to the dragon.

"I'm trying not to start a forest fire!" the dragon defended. "Again…"

"Well why didn't you just say so?" Kara exclaimed, sounding exasperated. "Gescildan!"

A shimmering barrier appeared behind the griffin. The dragon opened her maw and unleashed a torrent of fire, causing the griffin to screech again and fall to the ground. For a few moments, it was fully wreathed in fire. Then the flames faded, leaving behind a charred corpse. The dragon landed and folded her wings, looking pleased with herself.

"Thank you, Aithusa," Kara said, climbing out of the tree. "I don't know what I'd have done without you."

"I like helping people," Aithusa said cheerfully. "Besides, you smell of Mordred. I like Mordred."

Percival cleared his throat. "Uh…you do realize that tree is smoking?"

Kara's head snapped up. "What? Oh…brimstréam." Water appeared out of nowhere and doused the tree.

Selene leaped out of the first tree and climbed onto Aithusa's back, settling somewhere between the dragon's wings. "Huh," Gwaine said. "I guess we found out where the cat got to."

"She doesn't like us, but she likes a _dragon_?" Elyan said in disbelief.

"Well of course she does," Kara replied, reaching out to scratch Selene's ears.

"Careful, she's not fond of people…" Leon began, but trailed off when Selene happily accepted Kara's attention.

"Not fond of people without magic," Kara corrected. "You see these markings? She's an Argine cat. The high priestesses bred them to have an affinity for magic. We had three Argines in my clan."

"No wonder she latched onto Merlin," Percival realized.

"Merlin told me to take care of Selene so she would stop attacking the stable boys," Aithusa explained. She twisted her head around to nuzzle the cat. "Selene is cuddly."

Leon shook his head. "A dragon who likes to cuddle. And I thought nothing could shock me any more." He shook his head again, then turned to Kara. "Would you like us to escort you back to the city?"

"No, I'll be fine," Kara assured.

"All right then." Leon mounted his horse again. The other knights followed suit, and they rode out of the clearing.

"What is this world coming to?" Gwaine muttered. "We're _knights_. We're supposed to be rescuing girls from dragons, not watching dragons rescue girls!"

"Give it time," Percival said wisely. "Maybe someday knights will be rescuing dragons."


	5. Payday

**A/N: This is set about a week after The Witchfinder.**

* * *

Arthur entered Merlin's bedchamber and found Morgana reading a book to Merlin. Mordred was asleep on the other bed—a fairly ordinary sight as of late. Mordred had taken to keeping very odd hours in order to look after Merlin.

Arthur reached into his pocket for a small pouch of coins and set it on the nightstand. "Week's pay for you, Merlin."

Merlin looked confused.

"Yes, I know you haven't actually worked this week, but I'm not going to punish you for being in no fit state to work."

Merlin looked at the table, then back at Arthur, still confused. For some reason, Morgana looked amused.

"Or…think of it as compensation for your horrendously unjust treatment at the hands of the law."

Merlin's expression began to transform into one of incredulity.

"I know no amount of gold will ever make up for that, but…just accept the money, Merlin, it's not like I can't afford to pay both you and your temporary replacement."

Merlin continued staring at him. Morgana shook with suppressed mirth.

"…I'm sorry, Merlin, I have no idea what you're trying to say."

Merlin shot Morgana a look that was half accusing, half pleading. She lost the battle for composure and burst into laughter. Merlin sighed and turned back to Arthur. He jerked his head at the nightstand and coughed pointedly.

Arthur looked down at the nightstand, then started. "…ah. No, that is not your payment." Sheepishly, he switched it out with the actual pouch of coins. Then he turned to glare at Morgana. "You could have said something."

It took a few moments for her to stop laughing and reply. "You spend so much time on the training field, I thought it had become standard practice for knights to pay their servants in sharpening stones," she said innocently.

"Standard practice—oh, and I suppose you now pay Gwen in hairbrushes?" Arthur sputtered out.

"Of course," Morgana said without batting an eye. "Haven't you noticed how much nicer her hair looks?"

"I…er…haven't really been paying attention," Arthur replied, somewhat hurriedly. "Feel better, Merlin."

He turned around and quickly made his escape. He had a feeling Morgana was never going to let him live this down.


	6. Why?

**A/N: This question had been bugging me for ages, so I decided to address it. This is set sometime between A Herald of the New Age and The Hunter's Heart.**

* * *

Merlin and Arthur often worked in Arthur's chambers in comfortable silence. Arthur would work on reports and Merlin would attend to whatever chores needed doing. No words were exchanged unless necessary; the mere presence of a friend made the tedium of work more tolerable.

But on this morning, Arthur abruptly decided that words _were_ necessary. "Merlin."

Merlin looked up to see Arthur giving him a thoughtful look. [What?]

"You can command dragons. You can destroy castles. You can summon lights from leagues away while lying unconscious in a fevered delirium. So…"

[So what?]

"So why couldn't you escape the dungeons, right after claiming ownership of a magical amulet and removing any reason to hide your magic?"

Merlin flinched and sank onto a chair. [Could I have escaped? Probably. Certainly I considered it. But if I blasted my way out of the dungeons with a blatant display of power, then every knight and soldier in the city would have swarmed me. Even if I made it out, Uther never would have stopped hunting me. So I thought, maybe I'll wait until nightfall and sneak out under cover of night. But if I did that…Aredian didn't seem like the type to pursue his prey to the ends of the earth. I had a feeling he was much more likely to stay in Camelot and make more accusations. And the most obvious place to start would have been my family. He might accuse Mordred again, and I'd be too busy evading capture to save him a second time. If I stayed put and let Aredian get what he wanted, maybe he would be satisfied and move on. And if he wasn't satisfied with my death…then at least I could hold his attention long enough for Mordred and Gaius to come up with some plan to protect themselves. And then…] Merlin swallowed. [I don't remember much beyond the first few days. I think, after the first day or two, I was too injured to get away even if I _had_ unlocked the cell and knocked out the guards. And…I'm not sure I wanted to. Execution seemed like a much quicker and more achievable respite from…] Merlin trailed off with a shudder.

Arthur winced in sympathy. "You wanted to die," he stated quietly.

Merlin briefly shut his eyes. [My life has never been easy, Arthur. Aredian had been my worst experience yet, but that wasn't the first living nightmare I'd had to endure. I thought…if I died protecting Mordred…I wouldn't have to feel guilty about leaving him. I could just…stop. Not have to worry about what horror life would throw at me next. Not have to deal with constant magical threats to the kingdom. Not have to look after Mordred. Not have to hide who I really was, day in and day out. I could just be…free. Maybe…maybe that was even part of why I didn't try to escape. I just wanted it all to be _over_.]

"And do you still feel that way?" Arthur asked softly.

Merlin contemplated this before answering. [I don't know. I know that I would never simply take my own life, because that would be cowardly and I would break the hearts of people I care about. But sometimes, when we go on dangerous missions…I think a small part of me is hoping that I won't come back. And after the Dorocha…when I realized I'd survived…I wasn't happy or relieved. I was… _disappointed_ , almost. Maybe more than almost.]

Arthur swallowed. "And once the law is changed? Would you be happy to come home from quests with your life?"

[Maybe. Only one way to find out.]

"Someday, Merlin, I'm going to make sure you're glad to be alive," Arthur vowed.

Merlin broke into a small smile. The mere fact that Arthur would make such a vow made life a little more worth living.

* * *

 **A/N: For the record, Merlin's ruminations are colored by his present attitude and the fact that he has spent years trying to forget. He had absolutely no death wish when he was arrested, but he did a little too good a job making peace with what he assumed would be his impending execution.**


	7. Careful What You Wish For

**A/N: This is set soon after Patrol Gone Mad.**

* * *

During the Great Purge, many items had been confiscated from sorcerers and unceremoniously locked away in the vaults. Since the items were not meant to be used, Uther had never bothered to learn anything about the various artifacts beyond the mere fact that they were magical. Now that the law had been changed, Arthur decided it was high time he knew _what_ he actually had sitting in his vaults. To that end, he had assigned Gaius, Merlin and Mordred to go through the vaults and do a proper inventory. Various knights had taken turns on guard duty while they worked. Currently, Gwaine was on watch.

"What's this one do?" Gwaine asked curiously, picking up a crystal ball.

"We haven't gotten to that section yet," Gaius said curtly. "I haven't the faintest idea what it does, but there's a very real possibility that it is dangerous, so put it down and don't touch anything lest you bring the castle down on our heads!"

"All right, all right," Gwaine responded, taken aback. He put down the crystal, failing to notice when it briefly glowed. He then glanced down the empty hallway in an effort to be vigilant, but he quickly grew bored again. "You know, Merlin, I got your mother to tell me some _fascinating_ stories about your childhood."

Merlin's eyes briefly flicked to Gwaine, indicating he had heard, but he did not reply.

"Like the time you turned yourself green," Gwaine continued. "Head-to-toe _green_. And then refused to turn yourself back, so she had to keep you inside and out of sight for a _week_. Until finally she gave up and took you to the druids so they would change you back to normal."

Gwaine had been trying to embarrass Merlin, but the tale had rather the opposite effect. Merlin actually snorted in amusement. [I remember that. There had been a blight affecting some of the crops, and I'd heard some of the older villagers mentioning that everything needed to be green. I took them a little too literally. Thank god I couldn't figure out how to turn Mother green too.]

Mordred stared at his brother. "Wow. And I thought _I_ was a handful."

Merlin shook his head. [You have no idea how grateful I am that you never got up to half the antics I did.]

"Sounds like you were a lot more fun when you were a child," Gwaine commented. "Wish I could meet six-year-old you."

To everyone's shock, both Merlin and the crystal ball began to glow brightly. A few moments later, the glow faded to reveal that Merlin had shrunk. Significantly. Gwaine yelped in surprise and accidentally knocked the crystal ball to the ground, where it shattered.

Merlin took a look around, his eyes wide as saucers. Then his gaze lighted on Gwaine, and he _screamed_. "Whoa, Merlin, it's okay!" Mordred hurriedly soothed.

"No it's not!" Merlin wailed hysterically. "They found me! They found me and they took me away and I'll never see Mother again and I wanna go home! I didn't even do nothin'! I was good! Why'd you take me away? And how'd you know my name? And I was good and I wanna go home and please don't hurt me and _I wanna go home!_ "

"Swefe nu!" Mordred exclaimed in frustration. He quickly caught his now-younger brother when Merlin collapsed into a deep sleep.

"What…" Gwaine gasped out, too shocked to form a coherent sentence. "What was…what just happened?!"

"It would seem you've discovered what the crystal ball does," Gaius said drily. "You wished to meet six-year-old Merlin, and now Merlin is six years old. Mentally as well as physically. _And_ you've shattered the crystal, so we will have to find another way to reverse the effects."

"And at that age, all he knew about Camelot knights was that they killed people like him, so the sight of you has him terrified out of his wits," Mordred added.

"He…talked," Gwaine said, still dazed. "He actually _talked_."

Gaius raised a very stern eyebrow at Gwaine. "Go to the king and tell him what happened. _Exactly_ what happened."

"Right away," Gwaine agreed, finally looking abashed. He hurried out of the vaults.

Gaius glanced at Merlin's sleeping form, grimacing. "We'd better get him out of here before he awakes and causes further catastrophe. In fact, it's probably best we postpone all this until we find a cure. Let's take him to our chambers and try to calm him down."

Mordred picked up Merlin and shook his head. "Our chambers will still be an unfamiliar place. I have a better idea."

* * *

An hour later, Mordred arrived in a wooded clearing where Aithusa and Selene were waiting. He sighed in relief and set Merlin on the ground. Aithusa's eyes widened at the sight. "Wow. He really _is_ tiny."

"Did you think I was joking?" Mordred asked tiredly. He'd mentally explained everything to Aithusa as soon as he reached the woods.

"I just didn't think Dragonlords could _be_ that tiny," Aithusa replied, sounding awed. "He's…cute."

"Yeah, now that he's not screaming his head off," Mordred grumbled. "Or talking so fast I can't get a word in edgewise. I never really believed Mother when she said he used to talk non-stop, but…he does. He really does." Mordred shuddered.

Selene bounded forward and sniffed Merlin. Then she cocked her head, turned to Mordred and meowed in a rather accusing fashion.

"Blame Gwaine, not me," Mordred told her. He incanted the spell to wake Merlin.

Merlin slowly blinked his eyes and sat up. Selene nuzzled him and purred, causing Merlin to stare at her. "Kitty?"

"Yes, that's a kitty," Aithusa confirmed. Merlin looked up at her and his jaw dropped. "And I'm a dragon and that's your brother Mordred."

Merlin turned around and caught sight of Mordred. He stiffened and edged toward Aithusa, but thankfully he did not scream. "That's not my brother. I don't know him and I don't have a brother."

 _It's a long story,_ Mordred told him. _But believe me, you're not going to be executed. Camelot has a new king who likes magic._

Merlin gave him a very wary look, clutching the cat. _Then why did you take me away?_

 _That wasn't me, and that was an accident. A spell went wrong. It brought you here._

 _I still don't have a brother,_ Merlin argued.

Mordred hesitated. He wasn't sure Merlin would believe that he had lost eighteen years' worth of memories. _Mother sent me to live with her Uncle Gaius in Camelot before you were born. She probably didn't want to tell you about me until you were older._

 _Why?_ Merlin demanded suspiciously.

Mordred shrugged. _You know grown-ups. They don't want to tell you_ anything _until you're "older"._

Selene wriggled out of Merlin's grip and walked up to Mordred. She sniffed him, curled up in his lap and began purring. Then she looked directly at Merlin and continued purring. Mordred got the distinct impression Selene was trying to tell Merlin to trust him.

Merlin looked at Selene, then at Aithusa, then back at Mordred. _So, since you didn't mean to bring me here, can I go home?_

 _The roads are dangerous,_ Mordred quickly invented. _We'll have to find a spell to send you back. Just come with me to Camelot for now. I promise you'll be safe._

 _Can the dragon and the kitty come too?_

 _I live in the woods,_ Aithusa replied. She cast a longing look at Selene, then sighed. _But you can have the kitty._

"Yay!" Merlin squealed. He snatched up Selene and hugged her, eliciting an indignant squawk. "I have a kitty! I've never had a kitty and I've always wanted one and now I have one! Does he have a name? What's his name? I'm gonna name him Stripey! Or Silver! Or—"

"She's a _girl_ kitty," Aithusa interrupted.

"Then…" Merlin's eyes lit up with a mischievous light. "Then I'll name her Freya!"

"Her name is Selene," Mordred cut in. "I think the name 'Freya' would be better suited to a black cat anyway."

"Because black cats are unlucky?" Merlin guessed. "Cause Freya's unlucky. I always trip over things when she's around. Or maybe she's doing it on purpose. I bet she is, she's always making fun of me. So I make fun of her. Or I make the wind knock her over. Or I put bugs in her hair. She looks funny when she's trying to get them out. And kinda pretty." Merlin suddenly looked horrified. "Don't tell her I said that!"

"I won't," Mordred promised, his ears ringing already. "But let's get moving."

* * *

By the time they made it back to Gaius's chambers, Mordred was seriously tempted to cast another sleep spell. Merlin had barely paused for breath all the way home. Mordred wondered how Mother had put up with ten years of this.

Arthur and Gwen were both waiting in the physician's chambers. "Ah, Merlin!" Arthur said cheerfully. Merlin went quiet and pressed closer to Mordred. "Gaius has been telling me all about your mishap."

"Yes, the spell that brought him here from Ealdor," Mordred added, giving them all a significant look. "And how we'll have to find another spell to get him home."

Arthur paused ever so slightly, then recovered. "Of course. Now Merlin, I want you to understand, I like magic, all right?"

"You…do?" Merlin asked timidly.

"Of course I do, that's why I made it legal. I'm King Arthur and this is my queen, Guinevere."

"But you can call me Gwen," she added, smiling. Merlin relaxed slightly, though he still clung to Selene.

"I give you my solemn word you will not be executed," Arthur promised. "And none of my knights will hurt you."

"Or the kitty?"

"Or the kitty."

"Merlin, I'm sorry, but you can't keep a cat in here," Gaius cut in apologetically. "It would be very bad if she knocked over any potions."

"But Mordred and the dragon said I could keep the kitty!" Merlin whined. "I want the kitty! I _like_ the kitty! And she likes me too, don't you, kitty?" Selene nuzzled him, causing him to giggle.

"Well, he doesn't _have_ to stay in here, does he?" Gwen suggested. "I'm sure we could find a kitty-safe room for him to stay in."

"Yes!" Merlin squealed, jumping up and down. "I wanna stay with the kitty!"

"That's settled then." Gwen stood up. "Come on, let's find you a room."

"Yay! Thank you Queen Gwen!" Merlin dropped Selene and hugged Gwen. Selene hissed indignantly, and Merlin turned to her. "Be nice to Queen Gwen. She's my friend." Selene hissed again. "She's my friend, so she has to be yours too!"

"It's all right, Merlin," Gwen cut in. "Selene just doesn't like people who don't have magic."

Merlin frowned at the cat. "You should like more people. People without magic can be nice too."

"Yes, they can," Gwen agreed. "Come along." She steered Merlin out of the room, Selene on his heels.

Once they were gone, Arthur exhaled. "Well that was…different."

Mordred snorted. "That was positively quiet by his standards."

"Quiet?" Arthur repeated in disbelief.

"If you can get a word in edgewise, he's being quiet."

"Quiet," Arthur said again, shaking his head. "And let me guess, that was subdued too?"

"Oh yes."

Arthur snorted half-heartedly. "I'm almost tempted to question whether they're even the same person." He sighed and stood up. "Well, I've got other things to attend to. Good luck finding a cure."

* * *

Several hours later, Gwen walked into the bedchamber she shared with Arthur and collapsed onto the bed. "Arthur, just how badly do you really need an heir? Because I don't know if I can put up with that for years on end."

"Put up with…what?" Arthur asked warily, looking up from his paperwork.

"Never before have I seen a child _literally_ bounce off walls. He also turned the curtains into a makeshift tree for the cat to climb, he made the carpet into a fort which was somehow bigger on the inside, and he turned the walls blue. Vivid blue."

Arthur's eyes slowly widened in horror, then he forced aside his trepidation. "Yes, well, surely _our_ children wouldn't be born with magic? After all, _we_ weren't."

"Your half-sister was," Gwen pointed out.

"And so was her half-sister from the other side of her family. I think she must have gotten it from Vivienne. Besides, she didn't manifest it until she was an adult. And Merlin said he's the only known sorcerer to actually _have_ magic from birth."

"Let's hope so," Gwen agreed with a shudder. "Because if we ever have magical children, Merlin and Mordred are going to spend a _lot_ of time looking after them."

"Wait, who's watching Merlin now?"

"Elyan," Gwen said, breaking into a wicked grin. "Seeing as I've not yet made him an uncle, sisterly love dictates I take advantage of this opportunity to let him spend time with a child."

* * *

"So you're Queen Gwen's brother?" Merlin asked curiously.

"Yes," Elyan confirmed.

"So does that make you like a prince or something?"

"No, just a knight. And actually, I've been a knight longer than she's been queen."

"Hmm." Merlin paused, thinking. "Well what if you married Arthur's sister? Does he have a sister?"

Elyan stiffened. "He used to. She died."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Merlin visibly drooped. "What happened?"

"Long story," Elyan said evasively.

Merlin sat down and rested his chin on his hands. "I like stories."

Elyan sighed. "She turned evil and a sorcerer named Emrys had to kill her to protect the kingdom."

"Oh." Merlin paused again. "Where's Emrys now? Can I meet him?"

"He's, uh, busy. Maybe later."

"Okay." Merlin shrugged and perked up. "Want to play in my fort?"

"I don't think I'd fit in there…" Elyan trailed off when Merlin moved a corner of the rug so that he could see inside. The fort was nearly as big as Arthur's chambers. "I stand corrected."

"Come on!" Merlin grabbed Elyan's hand and tried to drag him into the fort. Elyan let him, startled that Merlin had willingly touched him.

* * *

At Gwen's request, Leon went to check on Elyan and Merlin. To his concern, he saw no sign of them in the room, although Selene was napping on a floating pile of curtains. "Elyan? Merlin?"

Merlin poked his head out from the rug fort. "Hi! I'm Merlin, what's your name?"

"I'm Leon. Where's Elyan?"

Elyan's voice came from inside the fort. "I'm in here."

"Uh…everything all right?" Leon asked worriedly.

Elyan reluctantly emerged, revealing that his chain mail was now made of alternating red and gold links. "Depends on what you mean by 'all right'."

"Ah." Leon tried to keep a straight face, but he quickly lost the battle and burst out laughing. Selene lifted her head and hissed at him, annoyed that her catnap was disturbed.

"Be nice," Merlin scolded. He looked at Leon. "Sorry. I keep telling her it's not nice to hiss at people."

"Oh don't worry, I'm used to it. The chain mail though…nice touch, Merlin."

"He's a Camelot knight, he's _supposed_ to be red and gold," Merlin stated. He frowned at Leon, then his eyes flashed gold. Leon's chain mail transformed to match Elyan's.

Elyan smirked. "You're right, Leon, that _is_ a nice touch."

Leon looked down at his armor and yelped in surprise. Then he awkwardly cleared his throat. "Right, well, you two seem to be getting along just fine. I'll…just…"

"Come join us!" Merlin begged. "We need someone to be the evil king who captured the princess!"

"The…what?"

"Elyan 'n' me are playing a game! There's this princess whose magic keeps the land all nice and green and there's this evil king who wants to starve the people so he captured the princess and took away her powers and so Elyan and me are going to rescue her and make the land green again but we need someone to be the king so we can fight him—"

"Please," Elyan begged, looking frazzled.

"Well…all right," Leon relented. "But this is _just_ a game, right? No real fighting?"

"Course not," Merlin assured. "Mother says real fighting is bad. People get hurt and people die and it's not fun. But pretend fighting is fun. Come on!" He grabbed Leon's hand and hauled him into the fort.

* * *

"Gwaine, you are _not_ taking mini-Merlin to the tavern!" Percival said sternly. "Mordred, Gaius and Arthur would probably _all_ murder you! And so would Merlin, once he's back to normal!"

"I never said I was taking _him_ to the tavern!" Gwaine defended. "But he seems to have kidnapped Elyan and Leon."

Percival rolled his eyes. "They're grown men, they can take care of themselves. Merlin may have magic, but he's still only six."

"Well then. Shall we rescue our brave comrades from the clutches of the devious six-year-old?"

Percival laughed. "All right, just don't make Merlin any younger."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Percival had become another one of the princess's would-be rescuers and Gwaine was the evil king's head knight.

* * *

"Hello?" Kara called, cautiously entering the room.

Merlin's head poked out of the fort again. "Hi. You're pretty. What's your name?"

"Uh…Kara," she replied, startled and flattered. "Your brother sent me to check on you."

Merlin turned back to the fort. "I found a princess!" He looked at Kara again. "Will you please be our princess? We need a princess to rescue!"

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Why can't the princess rescue herself?"

"Because the evil king took her powers."

Kara almost drew her dagger out of her hidden ankle holster, then decided not to let Merlin know there were any sharp objects in the room. "And she can't do _anything_ without her powers?"

"Course she can, but she's locked in a dungeon." Merlin stuck out his lower lip and pouted. "Pleeeaaaase? Pretty pleeeeeaaaaase?"

"Oh, all right," Kara relented.

* * *

A few hours after sunset, Mordred and Gaius finally realized the solution had been right under their noses the whole time. They already _had_ a recipe for a potion that could reverse aging transformations—the same potion Mordred had used every time he turned himself into an old man. There was no reason it couldn't work on Merlin too. And with some minor adjustments, they were sure they could restore Merlin's memory as well.

Gaius began brewing the potion while Mordred went to break the news to Merlin—and hopefully find Kara, who had mysteriously vanished.

* * *

When Mordred entered the room where Merlin was staying, he heard odd noises from underneath a floating rug. "Ha! Take that, you villain! And that!"

"Elyan?" Mordred called in disbelief.

"Princess! We've come all this way to rescue you!" Percival cried.

"Oh, thank you! How can I ever repay you?" Kara cried dramatically.

Mordred loudly cleared his throat. "I have news, for anyone who's interested."

Merlin, Percival, Kara and Gwaine all came to the entrance of the rug fort, Selene now happily curled up in Kara's arms. "Hi brother!" Merlin said cheerfully. "We saved the princess and her cat!"

"Good job," Mordred replied, his mouth twitching. He wondered if _he_ had ever acted that ridiculous when he was little, then he brushed the thought aside. "We found a recipe for a potion that can reverse the spell on you. Gaius is making it now. We should be able to send you home in the morning."

"Oh." Merlin's face fell. "Why can't you just bring Mother here? I like it here. It's fun and I have friends."

Mordred froze, unsure how to answer that. "Um…"

Thankfully, Kara stepped in. "When you first got here, it was scary and you didn't like it, remember? You want to put your poor mother through that? When we send you home, you can ask her to take you back to Camelot."

"But what about the roads?" Merlin argued. "You said the roads are bad."

"We'll fix the roads," Leon offered, joining them at the entrance.

"But what if you can't?"

"How about we all get a good night's sleep and discuss this in the morning?" Percival suggested.

Merlin pouted. "Okay."

"And, uh…not that I don't love the fashion statement, but could you fix the chain mail?" Gwaine added.

"Fine," Merlin agreed, sounding thoroughly disgruntled. His eyes flashed, but the knights' armor simply turned blue and green. "Sorry!" He tried again, and this time the armor turned black and white. "Sorry, I have trouble _un_ doing things…"

"Here," Mordred interrupted. He incanted a spell and returned the armor to normal.

"Thanks," Leon sighed in relief.

"And, uh…" Mordred looked around the room. "Sorry, Merlin, but I really don't think we should leave the room like this." He cast a few more spells to return the room to its normal state.

"But I can have more fun tomorrow?" Merlin asked hopefully.

"Uh…sure," Mordred agreed. "But time for bed now."

Merlin turned to Kara. "Please can I have the kitty?"

"Sure." Kara handed over Selene.

"Okay, now take the kitty and go to bed," Mordred said sternly.

"But I'm not tired," Merlin whined, yawning.

"Yes you are. Go to bed."

"Can't I play with the kitty some more?"

"Go. To. Bed."

"But…"

"Swefe nu!"

Merlin collapsed. Kara caught him, then carried him over to the bed and tucked him in. Miraculously, Merlin managed to cling to Selene even in sleep.

Percival raised an eyebrow at Mordred. "Did Merlin used to do that to you when you were younger?"

"Neither of us knew that spell back in Ealdor," Mordred admitted. "But if he _had_ known it…well, I don't know. He and Mother were pretty good at getting me to go to sleep without it. Merlin was always good at being a big brother…wish I knew how he did it. I have no clue what I'm doing."

"He probably didn't either, at first," Leon said bracingly.

"Besides, when he first became your brother, he'd just lost his voice," Percival said thoughtfully. "It was probably _harder_ for him."

Elyan swallowed, glancing at Merlin. "Have any of you considered whether we're actually doing Merlin a favor, restoring him to his normal age? I mean, look at him. He's so… _happy_. So carefree. He can talk, he's not nervous about doing magic in front of us, he doesn't flinch when we touch him…"

Leon gave Elyan a skeptical look. "You want to just leave him this way? Have him grow up all over again?"

"Would that be such a bad thing?"

"And what about the person he used to be?" Kara said quietly. "If you let him grow up again, without any memory of the events that shaped his life, chances are he'll end up becoming a very different person. The old Merlin will just be…gone. _Dead_ , essentially, only worse, because his soul won't have gone on. He'll have simply ceased to exist. You would do that to your friend?"

"And if we _do_ restore him, this child will cease to exist," Elyan argued. "And we haven't even told him what will really happen when we 'send him back'. Isn't _that_ as bad as murder too?"

Kara shook her head. "This child was already a part of the Merlin you know. You just hadn't seen this side of him before."

"Besides, sooner or later he'll figure out something's off," Mordred added. "Mother is older, Will is dead, my whole clan is dead…his father is dead, and now he doesn't even remember meeting him."

Elyan sighed. "I suppose you're right. Still…I'll miss how easy it was to make him smile." He cast another sad look at Merlin, then led the way out of the room.

* * *

In the morning, they discovered a problem. Merlin wasn't in his room…nor was Selene. Mordred, Gaius, Kara and the knights began combing the castle for their wayward warlock.

* * *

Arthur and Gwen had just sat down for breakfast in their chambers when they heard a noise under their bed. It sounded suspiciously feline in nature.

Gwen walked over to look under the bed. "Merlin?"

Merlin glared defiantly at her, clutching Selene. "Don't wanna go home. Wanna stay here."

Gwen sighed. "Well, you can't stay under our bed. This is _our_ room. We gave you your own, why aren't you there?"

"Because that's where they'll look for me," Merlin answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Arthur walked over to join them. "So, you have a basic understanding of stealth. That's good. But we found you, so clearly you need to work on it." He crouched down. "How about a deal. You let us send you back to Ealdor, and then we'll come get you and teach you how to be stealthy enough to survive on the dangerous road to Camelot."

Merlin looked up at Arthur, his eyes wide. "You'll teach me to be sneaky?"

"Something tells me you could be very good at it."

Merlin hesitated, then crawled out from under the bed. "Okay. Deal."

Arthur nodded. "Good. Now let's find Gaius and Mordred."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, they had all gathered in Gaius's chambers. Merlin held up the potion, giving Arthur a nervous look. "You promise you'll come get me?"

"I promise."

"And you'll teach me to be sneaky?"

"I'll teach you whatever you want."

Merlin started to drink, then turned to Elyan. "You know, you're fun. I still think you should be a prince."

Elyan coughed awkwardly. "That…that's nice, Merlin. Thanks."

Merlin started to drink again, then looked at Mordred. "You should court Kara. She'd be a really neat big sister."

Mordred flushed with embarrassment, remembering the time he had uttered almost those exact same words to Gwen. "I'll keep that in mind." He reached out to take Kara's hand. "Now go on, drink."

"Okay." Merlin finally lifted the vial to his lips and drank. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then he began rapidly growing. His head shot upwards, his arms and legs grew longer, and his neck became faintly discolored. Less than a minute later, the adult Merlin stood in front of them, blinking and coughing.

"Merlin!" Mordred exclaimed, relieved. "You're back!"

Merlin opened his mouth to reply, but a rather strangled sound came out. He coughed again and signed a response. [Yes, I guess I am.] He coughed once more, then staggered and sank onto a nearby stool, clutching his head.

"Merlin?" Mordred said worriedly. "Are you all right?"

Merlin winced. [Everything's coming back to me… _everything_ …]

"I'm sorry," Arthur said quietly. "Do you want us to leave?"

Merlin shook his head. [Don't want— _I_ don't want to be alone right now.]

Mordred cautiously moved forward and gave Merlin a hug. "You're not alone."

Merlin smiled weakly and nodded, then pulled away. [Thank you. And thanks to all of you for…well, for putting up with me.]

Leon smiled, a sparkle of amusement in his eyes. "It was our pleasure, really."

"I quite enjoyed that new, fun side to you," Gwaine added, smirking.

[So did I,] Merlin admitted. [I'd almost forgotten what fun was.]

"So…" Elyan said hesitantly. "Not saying we should play 'Rescue the Princess' again, but do you think you might spend more time with us? We'd love to have you around."

[Sure,] Merlin agreed, standing up again. [Do you want to take next guard duty when we resume the inventory?]

Percival snorted. "Still having a bit of difficulty with that concept called 'fun', I see."

Merlin blinked at him. [Magic has always been my idea of fun. I thought, after yesterday, that would have been clear.]

"Ah, so that explains why you were never having fun around us before," Gwaine concluded.

[I suppose.]

Elyan stepped forward. "Sure, I'll take next guard duty."

[Great. Shall we?] Merlin gestured to the door.

"All right, then." Elyan moved toward the door, accidentally brushing Merlin with his hand. Merlin flinched, and Elyan suppressed a sigh. "Sorry."

Merlin briefly shut his eyes. [Sorry. Reflex.] He opened his eyes and took a deep breath. [Let's go.] He then led the way out of the room. Mordred, Gaius and Elyan followed.

The remaining knights, Arthur, and Gwen shared a glance. "'Reflex'," Gwen repeated thoughtfully. "Not 'please don't touch me'. I'd say the experience has done him some good."

"Let's hope so," Arthur agreed. "I can change the law, but I can't undo all the damage the old law caused. Some things, he'll have to do for himself."

"Yes, but we _can_ help him," Gwen countered, smiling. She glanced toward the open doorway. "I think we already have."


End file.
